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Things could not have started any better for Morristown West on Monday night in their season opener against Jefferson County.

Taking on the Patriots’ ace on the mound, UT commit Beau Revord, the Trojans got a hit-by-pitch to the second batter of the game before Bryson Jenkins deposited a Revord off-speed pitch over the fence in left. The home run gave West a two-run lead and all the momentum.

However, after the home run, things could not have gone much worse for the Trojans.

The Patriots immediately responded with two runs in the bottom of the first before scoring 10 more over the final four innings, taking the contest 12-2 in five innings.

Following the two-run shot in the first, Revord gave up just one hit the rest of the way and struck out seven.

“That’s just what he does,” Jeff County coach Zach Reese said. “Them stomping on the plate got him fired up a little, and he shut them down after that. He struggled with commands at times, but it’s really cold out here. After that happened, we put two up there and kept adding. That’s what you have to do when he’s on the mound, just give him something to work with. He doesn’t need a lot.”

For West, it was the little things that proved to be the difference for them. The Trojans committed seven errors in the game. Jordan Watson got the start on the mound and pitched well enough, allowing six hits.

“Watson pitched outstanding,” West coach Justin Pickett said. “He came out here and did everything we expected and asked him to do. But the defensive plays, the routine plays, we have to capitalize and get the outs. It’s early and there’s nerves, so I get it. I think we hit it well, with the exception whenever we had guys in scoring position. The defense just has to keep us in it.”

At the plate for Jeff County, Dylan Edmonds led the way with three RBIs, while Brody Carr drove in two. Along with his solid outing on the mound, Revord also had two doubles and drove in a run. The Patriots totaled eight hits.

With it being the first game of the season and temperatures in the low 40’s, solid at-bats can be tough to come by. However, just being able to put the ball in play worked on Monday for the Patriots.

“That’s the name of the game,” Reese said. “We talk about it all the time, just letting teams beat themselves. If they don’t, then we do. But when it’s like this and the weather, you just need to put the ball in play and let things happen.”

For West at the plate, Gracyn McClanahan had the only other hit besides Jenkins’ home run when he doubled in the top of the fifth.

Despite just the two hits, West did have multiple hard-hit balls, including back-to-back shots by Tison Johnson and Cody Blair, that the Patriots made good plays on.

“Our guys have really been working on our at-bat’s and working on our approach and cutting down big swings,” Pickett said. “With a guy like Beau on the mound, you have to have that philosophy. For us to come out here and have some hard-hit balls, it is a positive. A different day those might fall. As long as we can go up there and add pressure with hard-hit balls and build off of them, we’ll be fine.”

Following Jenkins’ home run in the first to put West up, Jeff County immediately tied the game in the bottom half of the inning as Owen Grimsley singled, Drew Potts reached on an error, Revord grounded out to score Grimsley and a wild pitch scored Potts.

In the second, the Patriots took the lead with three more runs. Those runs came off a bases-loaded walk, an RBI groundout to first by Grimsley and an RBI single by Potts that made it 5-2.

One more run crossed the plate for Jeff County in the third, on a Carr RBI single, before the Patriots scored four in the fourth to make it 10-2. Those runs came on an error, a two-RBI double by Edmonds and an RBI double by Lucas Havely.

In the fifth, the game ended early as Jeff County drew five walks, scoring two runs off of them.

With the win, the Patriots not only start the season 1-0 but also start district play with a win. With only 12 district games on the schedule, each one is important.

“It’s always important,” Reese said. “I’m a little old now, but Morristown West was always the team you wanted to beat too. We’re unique in that we start with district play, so you have to come out ready to go. They (West) have a lot of talent and tomorrow might be a whole different game. You just have to come out ready to go.”

For West, they will look to avoid an 0-2 start to district play as the two teams play at West on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. Pickett will start sophomore Paxton Seal, a player that he has a lot of confidence in on the mound.

“I think it will be huge for us because obviously you want to win them all,” Pickett said. “To split with a team as good as Jeff would be a big win for us. We’ll be ready to go. We just need to learn from our mistakes tonight, limit the damage and have better approaches. I have all the confidence in the world with Paxton. I am excited to see what he does tomorrow.”